pregnancy

Segment 1: Where a new mother lives often affects her ability to find treatment

Postpartum depression affects women of all demographics, but those in rural areas are particularly unable to take advantage of certain treatment options. Kansas City medical professionals reviewed some of the resources available in the region and discussed the challenges of connecting those to the mothers who most need them.

Segment 1: Researchers explain the data of who is receiving an abortion and why.

A study by Guttmacher Institute analyzed data from their 2008 and 2014 surveys on abortion and found an increase in the proportion of low-income women who received abortions. The University of California San Francisco conducted its own study following women who were able to receive an abortion, and contrasted the unintended effects of pregnancy with those women who were denied an abortion.

UPDATE: On April 5, after this story was first published, both chambers of the Kansas Legislature passed a measure mandating notice that the abortion pill may be reversible, sending the bill to Gov. Laura Kelly's desk where it currently sits. The amended bill includes a compromise sought by Democrats under which physicians who attempt a reversal would report the outcome to state health officials.

Chris and Gina Moore have spent almost five years trying to conceive a child.

"I have so much control in our everyday lives, like how we take care of the house or how we take care of our dog," Gina said. "But everything to do with fertility or trying to conceive I had absolutely no control of."

Segment 1: Leaders of the Kansas and Missouri chapters of the ACLU discuss their organizations' goings-on.

With a federal court ruling Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach's voter I.D. laws unconstitutional, the ACLU has something to celebrate. In the meantime, they're still fighting restrictive abortion laws in Missouri and for more funding of the state's public defender's office. Today, they updated us on these lawsuits and more.

A Kansas law prohibiting lawsuits based on “wrongful birth” claims is constitutional, the Kansas Court of Appeals ruled Friday.

The measure, which Gov. Sam Brownback signed into law in 2013, protects physicians from malpractice suits if they withhold or fail to provide information about fetal abnormalities that might lead the mother to get an abortion.

The Sunflower State's budget is a mess and lawmakers in Topeka are struggling to solve the state's fiscal woes. Today, a former budget director evaluates the precarious situation. Also, we speak with novelist Ellen Hopkins, who experienced the kidnapping of one daughter and the drug addiction of another.

Editor’s note: This is the second of two stories examining the costs of early scheduled births in Kansas and efforts to reduce them.

A statewide efficiency report estimates Kansas could save nearly $20 million over five years by reducing early elective Medicaid births — a number that might require the state to prevent 800 more of those births than actually happened in the most recent year.

Becoming pregnant and giving birth is a joyous time for many women. And yet, many suffer from serious depression during pregnancy and after birth. Now, the federal government is recommending that pregnant women and new mothers get screened for depression.

Guests:

Kim Vandegeest-Wallaceis a psychologist and sex therapist with the Women’s Specialty Clinic at KU Med.

Jane McKinney a licensed social worker with the Lakewood Counseling Service.

It's scary being a new parent, and many state regulations make the adjustment period very difficult for new moms and dads who have jobs. A recent study gives both Kansas and Missouri a failing grade in this area.

It wasn’t until the second half of the 20th century that expectant parents could see and hear their baby through means of ultrasound and Doppler. With those advances also came a dramatic change in how we view early pregnancy loss.

In the first part of Tuesday's Up to Date, we talk with a historian of women’s health about the impact of technology on first trimester miscarriages and how what was once considered an abnormal period is now the lossof a baby.

Kansas City, Mo. – More babies are making it to the full nine-month term in Kansas City. But experts aren't sure why.

Between 1990 and 2006, the rate of pre-term births escalated in Kansas City and around the country. A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that rates are now starting to finally go down.

The pre-term birth rate in Kansas City, Missouri dropped by almost two percentage points between 2005 and 2008.